Estimate TARA Automation Payback

It uses six numbers you supply: ECU-TARAs in the period (N), the period in months (P), manual engineer-hours per ECU-TARA (Hm), tool-assisted engineer-hours per ECU-TARA including expert review (Ht), the fully loaded hourly rate (R) and the tool cost over the period (C). Saving per ECU-TARA S = (Hm − Ht) × R. Break-even = C ÷ S, rounded up to a whole ECU-TARA. Payback in months = break-even ÷ (N ÷ P). Net over the period = N × S − C.

They are hypothetical example inputs — 60 ECU-TARAs over 36 months, 100 manual hours, 30 tool-assisted hours, €80 per hour and a €200,000 tool cost — chosen to show how the arithmetic works. They are not measurements of KAVACH or of any other tool. Replace them with your own figures.

Measure it on a pilot. Run the tool on one real scope — a feature, ECU or subsystem — and record the engineer-hours from setup to a reviewed TARA, including expert review and corrections. Manual hours can come from past programmes’ timesheets, but tool-assisted hours are usually the least known input, so a measured value is worth more than any vendor’s estimate. KAVACH’s Scoped Pilot package is a time-boxed pilot on one programme scope that ends with a readout of cycle-time observations.

Break-even needs more ECU-TARAs than you plan to run in the period, so the tool does not pay back on engineering hours alone inside that window, and the net result is negative. More volume from repeat platforms, variants and re-assessments, a lower tool cost or fewer tool-assisted hours moves break-even closer.

Then there is no saving per ECU-TARA, no break-even and no payback, and the calculator says so. The net result over the period is still shown as it is, including when it is negative.

It counts engineering hours only. It puts no value on consistency, traceability, audit evidence or avoided programme delay, and it assumes ECU-TARAs run at an even rate across the period. If those matter to your business case, add them separately with your own figures.

No. KAVACH is designed to speed up the first structured TARA draft — assets, damage scenarios, threat scenarios, attack paths, risk treatment and evidence links. Review, correction, approval and release remain with the engineering team, which is why Ht includes expert review.